One Great Drink: Matchbox's Margarita

By Chuck Sudo in Food on Dec 11, 2012 10:15PM

Photo credit: Chicagoist/Chuck Sudo

Chicago loves its cocktails almost as much as it does its beer and the local craft spirits community, while it isn't growing at a pace commensurate with the local beer scene, may be more exciting. Midwestern distilleries are finding eager consumers for their product and mixologists across the city are using them in cocktail recipes.

Despite all that, sometimes it's the simplest recipes that remain the best. Take the margarita at Matchbox. It's your standard recipe: tequila, triple sec and lime juice. The tequila is usually a reposado—right now they're using Ranchero but you can can ask to have anything from rail tequila to Patron substituted. Cointreau is used here instead of triple sec and, in our estimation, may be the best orange liqueur to use in a margarita.

The lime juice is fresh squeezed, with a teaspoon of egg white added as an emulsifier. the mix is then shaken and served in a martini glass with a powdered sugar rim and garnished with lemon zest and a lime wedge. We drank a couple of these Sunday night that went down our throat almost as fast as the mercury dropped. In the cozy confines of Matchbox, one of these will make you as warm as sitting on the beach in Cabo.

Matchbox is located at 770 N. Milwaukee Ave.